Local News

Valentine's Rock Hunt is on

School social studies project turns into community event

By Jenni Grubbs

Fort Morgan Times

Posted:
02/05/2018 04:56:03 PM MST

Lighthouse SDA School students display their painted rock masterpieces. A total of 30 painted rocks are hidden in City Park and Riverside Park for people to find and then claim a Valentine's gift bag at Fort Morgan Library & Museum. (Jodie Aakko / Special to the Times)

Lighthouse SDA School sixth-grader Ariana Lopes paints a rock for the Valentine's Rock Hunt being held in Fort Morgan City Park and Riverside Park. (Jodie Aakko / Special to the Times)

Anyone walking through City Park or Riverside Park in Fort Morgan over the next week may want to keep an eye on the ground for brightly colored rocks.

If the rock has a sticker on the bottom identifying it as part of the Lighthouse School Valentine's Rock Hunt, taking it to Fort Morgan Library & Museum would net the finder a gift bag.

The hunt starts Tuesday morning and runs through the afternoon of Feb. 15. The hunt is open to all ages, but only one per family can be found and turned in for a gift bag per family.

This is all part of a social studies project for the students at Lighthouse Seventh-Day Adventist Christian School in Fort Morgan, according to Principal Jodie Aakko.

These are just some of the 30 painted rocks hidden in Fort Morgan City Park and Riverside Park for people to find and then turn in at Fort Morgan Library & Museum to claim a Valentine's gift bag. (Jodie Aakko / Special to the Times)

After Margaret McClure gave a program at the school on painting rocks, Aakko and teacher Karen Reinke thought it might be something that also would be good for a larger school project or event.

"We decided to connect it to Valentine's Day," Aakko said.

And then they took it a step further, seeking to make it a community event.

"The community already has the car show and Christmas events, but we don't really do anything for Valentine's Day," Aakko said. "Why don't we paint rocks and set them out for the community to find? When they find the rocks, why not have gift bags for them?"

They decided the answer for both of these questions was yes, and the school's students in first to fourth grades were put in charge of the project.

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"They felt like it was their own project that they were creating for the community," Aakko said.

"It will be fun if someone who doesn't have friends or family in the area found a rock, so that they can get a Valentine's gift bag and not feel lonely," third-grader Kaylin Baquera said.

"I like this project because it is for every age," second-grader Leah Alvarado said.

But there were still several questions that needed answered. What rocks would they use, where would the rocks be hidden, what would go in the gift bags for the people who find the rocks, and where could people turn in the rocks and get the gift bags?

McClure suggested that the students team up and ask for help from businesses, which they did.

Soon, the students had a commitment from Miller's Landscaping Materials and Feed to provide 30 rocks for the project after a second-grade student had his mother stop by the business and ask.

Figuring out where to hide the rocks took a bit more work, with the students deciding to ask the city to use a couple of the parks in Fort Morgan.

"They were very open to the idea," Aakko said of the city officials the students asked.

The students then had to fill out forms and had a chance to learn about the process of requesting use of city parks, which Aakko turned into a social studies lesson.

"The students were watching the process the whole way," she said. "When I told the students it was approved, they literally jumped up and down they were so excited."

They got permission to hide the rocks in City Park and in the grassy area of Riverside Park close to the playground, pavilions and up to but not in the nature trail area.

What to put in the gift bags took more work on the students' part. They walked over to downtown and visited businesses. The students asked if they could hang posters about the Valentine's Rock Hunt in the windows and if the businesses would donate something for the gift bags.

"Several owners enthusiastically committed support in the project on the spot," Aakko said of promises of coupons and gift cards. "La Michoacana gave each student a free sample of ice cream."

Lighthouse SDA School students in first to fourth grades visited downtown businesses to hang posters and ask the owners to contribute to the Valentine's Rock Hunt gift bags people will receive if they find a painted rock in either City Park or Riverside Park and bring it to Fort Morgan Library & Museum. Several owners enthusiastically committed support in the project on the spot, according to Lighthouse Principal Jodie Aakko. (Jodie Aakko / Special to the Times)

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